Inconsistencies (Season 1)
Due to the episodic nature of Life is Strange, many inconsistencies can be found throughout the game. The following page lists all inconsistencies, sorted by the episode they appear in. Episode One - "Chrysalis" Rachel's Future Rachel wanted to become a model. However, despite being a pretty girl, it is evident from her Missing Person posters that Rachel is 5'5 ft (165 cm) tall, which is too short for the modeling industry. Most successful female models are usually around 5'8 ft to 5'10 ft, which is just the average height for the industry. Chloe's Car Repairs Chloe Price's cost estimate for car repairs is signed and dated October 17th 2013, but Max Caulfield finds and reads the invoice in Chloe's room on October 7th 2013. Kate's Photo If Max chooses to take a photo of Kate Marsh getting bullied by David Madsen instead of intervening, the photo will appear in Max's journal on page 16. However, when Max is in Chloe's room later in this episode, the photo examined by Chloe is completely different to the one that was taken earlier. The pose of Kate in this photo matches the pose of a sketch of Kate on the same journal page. Kate-pola.png|The photo appearing in Max's diary. Alt-kate-pola.png|The photo seen in Chloe's room. katediary.png|The drawing in Max's diary. Nathan's Scratches After being scratched by Max, Nathan Prescott shows red marks on his cheek. In the promotional shot for the first episode, those didn't exist. noscratches-promo.png|Promotional image. noscratches-ingame.png|Game screenshot. "Trust No One" This graffiti can be found at the beginning of the path leading to the lighthouse, near the picnic table. Contrary to the one on a rock next to the lighthouse, this graffiti only appears if you took the blame for Chloe's pot. It is unknown if it is a bug or if it was meant to have a deeper meaning in a later episode. Interestingly, it doesn't appear during Max's visions. trustnoone-visible.png|The graffiti appears. trustnoone-invisible.png|The graffiti doesn't appear. Arcadia Bay's ZIP Code In the postcard sent to Chloe, Rachel wrote Chloe's adress stating that Arcadia Bay's ZIP Code is 97141 (which is the real ZIP Code of Tillamook, OR). Another postcard from someone called Amaury found in Chloe's room also indicates that 97141 is Arcadia Bay's ZIP code. However, on the auto repair invoice, the shop's address in Arcadia Bay states a different ZIP Code: 97603. This is also a real ZIP code belonging to Klamath Falls, OR. Note-chloesroom-postcardback.png|97141 Postcard.png|97141 again Chloe car repairs.png|97603 Max's Journal On Page 22 of Max's journal, she writes about Chloe: "It's so strange where our lives have gone since the last time we hung out when we were thirteen." With their birth dates (Chloe - March 1994; Max - September 1995), there is no way that they would have been aged 13 at the same time. Chloe would have turned 14 six months before Max turned 13. Max's Phone The phone appearing in Max's diary is supposed to be hers, in a landscape position to read the texts more easily. However, this phone doesn't look like Max's phone at all (her phone having two buttons under the screen). SMS_Folder.jpg|Max's phone in her diary. Maxphone.png|Max's real phone (from the game files). It is interesting to note that the phone displayed in Max's diary is referred to as "tablet" in the game files, even though Max never claimed to own one. Episode Two - "Out of Time" Max's Selfie When looking at the selfie Max took right after getting out of bed (which she put on her desk), several issues arise: * On the printed photograph, Max is wearing her pink t-shirt and hoodie instead of her pajamas. * On the printed photograph, Max's bed is never made (red arrows), even in the case when she made it just before taking the shot (blue arrows). * The pink t-shirt seen in the photograph isn't even coherent; in this episode Max will only wear her white doe t-shirt. wrongselfie.png Mr. Jefferson Waiting Forever If Max enters the classroom after Mr. Jefferson received a phone call and then rewinds time as far as she can, Kate and Mr. Jefferson will have their conversation but the latter will never receive his phone call. As long as Max doesn't manually trigger the conversation with Mr. Jefferson, nothing else will happen. Kate's Picture If Max took the picture of David harassing Kate, she will show it to everyone in the Principal's office if she decides to blame David. Max then puts the picture on the Principal's desk. If Max decides to rewind time the picture logically disappears. But then if she decides to blame Nathan, the picture will magically appear on the desk (Max didn't put it there) and will stay on the desk even after rewinding time one more time, without anyone noticing it. If Max blames David again while the picture is already on the desk, it will disappear and be replaced by the new one Max puts on the desk. Blaming Jefferson doesn't make the picture magically appear. People Looking Directly at the Eclipse Even though the solar eclipse wasn't scheduled, nobody should have stared directly at it without specific glasses, especially not for a long time like Max and Warren did at the end of the episode. Indeed, while there is no danger to the eye in looking directly at a total solar eclipse, looking directly at the smallest part of a partial eclipse is very dangerous and can result in retinal damage. Episode Three - "Chaos Theory" Next Year Calendar in Max's Diary In the entry for October 9, 2013 in Max's diary, an extract of a calendar for March 2014 can be seen. It is not a mistake on the year since the days visible only happened in March 2014 and not in March 2013. There is neither an explanation regarding the meaning of this future calendar nor an actual link with the diary content for that day. Nathan's Age Despite the fact that Max mentions Nathan is 19 in her journal entry about him, his school file states that he was born on August 29, 1995, making him 18 years old. This could be explained by Max simply being misinformed, as she did not know Nathan well beforehand. Character Note Nathan.jpg Nathan Student File.png Victoria's Age Victoria's birthday is listed as August 14, 1995 on her Blackwell Student Record (which makes her 18 during the events of the game), while her social media page says that it's November 14, 1995 (which makes her 17). A lot speaks for trusting in the school record rather than Victoria's social media since it is an official document featuring her parents' signature; still, it is unclear why Victoria wouldn't use her real birth date on social media. Victoria mentions her age again in the Dark Room in Episode 5; if you successfully warned her before, she says: "I don't want to die like this! I'm only 18!" Victoria's social media page.jpg Academy Record Victoria.jpg Rachel's Age Rachel's Missing Person Posters state that Rachel was 19, while her Blackwell Student Record originally stated that she was 18, born July 22, 1995. However, this contradiction was corrected with a patch update on January 19, 2016, which changed her year of birth to 1994. rachel-studentfile-old.png|Original Student file rachel-studentfile.png|Updated Student file Warren's Age Warren's age is listed as 16 on his Blackwell Student Record, but the high school is specifically for seniors. The records are known to be unreliable, but there is a possibility that he has advanced a few grades due to his academic abilities. On the other hand, Chloe, for example, attended Blackwell three years ago, when she was still 16 years old, and many other students are known to attend Blackwell for a longer time period than one year. It also seems contradictory that Max writes in her journal that Warren is "her age", since they are two years apart by age. Rachel's Sign In a note to Frank, found in Frank's RV, Rachel refers to herself as a Leo; presumably the star sign. However, her date of birth would classify her as a Cancer-Leo cusp, and not a true Leo. Being born on July 22, 1994 in California would make her 29 degrees Cancer unless she was born at 7pm or later. If she proudly identifies as a Leo, it is possible she is an astrology enthusiast and knows her own birth chart. Kate's Character Notes Max's character notes page for Kate Marsh will change in this episode, depending on whether Max manages to save her life or not. A new decal will appear on the page to cover the 'LiFE' graphic that was visible in the previous two episodes. However, there is currently an inconsistency with how these new graphics appear, due to the files being misnamed in the Unreal Engine packages (TX_Character_E3_Kate_SF, TX_Character_E4_Kate_SF, and TX_Character_E5_Kate_SF). The inconsistency was fixed in the Limited Edition . The sticker graphic that implies Kate is alive has been labelled Kate_scrapbook_dead, and the sticker graphic that implies that Kate is dead has been labelled Kate_scrapbook_alive. If Kate dies, the sticker graphic that appears after this consequence implies she is still alive ("Get Well Soon"). If Kate lives, the sticker graphic that appears implies that she has died ("Love is how you stay alive, even after you are gone").DONTNOD were made aware of this inconsistency on 29th March 2017. It is unknown if a patch will be released that fixes this issue. Kate Life.png|Sticker graphic visible on Kate's page up until Episode 3. Kate scrapbook dead.png|Sticker graphic that appears on Kate's journal in error if she dies, due to a mislabeling of the game file (Kate_scrapbook_dead). Kate scrapbook alive.png|Sticker graphic that appears on Kate's journal in error if she lives, due to a mislabeling of the game file (Kate_scrapbook_alive). Max Commenting on the Family Album When browsing the Prices' photobook, Max says "I don't think I can rock that outfit like Rachel". She is referring to the picture of Rachel wearing the same plaid shirt as her. But the picture in question will only be seen after Max has turned the photobook's pages. When she makes her comment she has only seen pictures unrelated to Rachel. Max's Bangles Max's bangles change colour three times during Episode 3. They remain the standard colour (red, light blue, black) up until she wakes up in Chloe's room after a night spent breaking into Blackwell Academy (bangles now appearing to be dark purple, light blue, black). Once she puts on Rachel Amber's old clothes, the bangles change again (faded red, faded blue, faded black). The bangles revert back to their standard colours once she finds herself in 2013 in the alternative timeline at the end of the episode. Max's bangles also appear totally white in the major choice picture involving Pompidou. bangle1crop.png|Standard colours (red, light blue, black). bangle2crop.png|Colours when Max wakes up (dark purple, light blue, black). bangle3crop.png|Colours in Rachel's clothes (faded red, faded blue, faded black). TX_MajChoice_E3_6B_Dog.png|Major choice involving Pompidou (all white) Max's Handedness In Episode 2, at the Two Whales Diner, Max eats breakfast with her fork in her left hand and her knife in her right. However, in this episode, when Joyce makes Max breakfast at the Madsen Household, Max eats breakfast with her knife and fork in opposite hands. It is either an oversight or an indication that Max is actually ambidextrous. max-righthand-knife.png max-righthand-fork.png Max's SMS Timestamps The morning after the break-in at Blackwell Academy, Max will receive three text messages from Warren a few seconds after she gets up from Chloe's bed. The timestamps of these texts are: 8:13am, 8:13am, and 8:14am. Max receives no further texts while she is inside Chloe's room. Once Max exits the room, she will receive a text from 'Unknown', who turns out to be Richard Marsh (Kate's father). This text has a timestamp of 8:10am, which is prior to the timestamps on Warren's texts. A possible explanation for this could be a delay in delivery to Max's handset. Most phones will display the time a message was sent to that device, not the time it was received. Episode Four - "Dark Room" Nathan's Father Although we know that Nathan's father is named "Sean" on his Blackwell Academy report, other names seem to be listed. Sean Prescott's signature on Nathan's Best Son Certificate doesn't equal that on his School Report. Academy Record Nathan.jpg Nathan best son diploma.png Nathan's Car In David's files, Nathan's vehicle is a red 4x4 truck with a broken tail light on the driver's side and a license plate of SXFTNDR. After Max and Chloe escape from the Blackwell Swimming Pool a truck bearing the same license plate is parked on the parking lot, but it is blue in colour. When Max and Chloe arrive at the parking lot to attend the End of the World Party a day later, a green truck bearing the same license plate is parked there. The model is the same for all three cars, and there is no broken tail light on the latter two.. The tail light could easily have been fixed, but it is very strange that the trucks are a different colour. There are two possible explanations for this: * Nathan's license plate was reused as a game asset to decorate a different truck. * Nathan's car got repaired and repainted after what happened to Kate to make sure no one would re-identify the car. nathan-bluetruck.png|The blue truck in Episode 3 David investigation nathanplate.png|Photo of the red truck by David (Episode 4) nathan-green-truck.png|The green truck in Episode 4 Chloe's Height Chart A number of inconsistencies exist between Chloe's height chart from the original timeline and her height chart in the alternative timeline: Nathan's Pills There is an online drugstore website left open on Nathan's computer at the time Max explores his room. The diet pills listed there are called Dexomine. In real life, however, Dexomine is a cough suppressant, and the correct name for diet pills would be Dexamine. Warren's Shirt When fighting Nathan in the dorms, Warren isn't wearing the same t-shirt in the game and in the trailer for Episode 4 and the Limited Edition. shirt promo.jpg|Trailer limited edition screenshot. shirt box.jpg|Trailer EP4 screenshot. shirt game.png|Game screenshot. Younger Max's Hair Length Whether it's on the picture of her 10th birthday or when she was wearing a ponytail, the younger Max always had a neck-length haircut. However, in her diary Max drew her younger self with shoulder-length hair, if not even longer. Max chloe young.png The Changing Cliff The cliff (and the forest on it) supporting the lighthouse seems to have a different shape each time it is seen in the game. cliff menu.png|The cliff as it appears in the game main menu. cliff bus.png|The cliff as seen during the bus ride (Episode 2). cliff beach.png|The cliff as seen from the beach (Episode 4). The cliff seen in the second episode (during the bus ride), is actually the wrong cliff: a cliff with exactly the same shape can be seen from the lighthouse, when looking at the horizon from behind the maintenance shack. It explains why the cliff's shape looks so different. Cliffshack.png|The cliff seen behind the maintenance shack. Number of candles for Chloe's 16th birthday In the picture showing Chloe having a fight with David over a birthday cake, only nine candles can be seen. It seems very unlikely that seven candles could be hidden because of the perspective alone. Episode Five - "Polarized" Max's Belongings Max's hoodie and satchel were placed on the sofa in one of the promotional shots for this episode. In the game they are on top of crates instead. darkroom-promo.png|Promotional image. darkroom-ingame.png|Game screenshot. Max's Selfie When comparing the selfie taken by Max in the art class at the beginning of the game (the one Max put on her table) with the one enabling Max to escape the Dark Room, it appears those are utterly different even though they are supposed to be the exact same picture. Selfies.jpg Max texting David If Max needed to search in the pamphlet to find David's number, how come his name appears above Max's text? It would mean she added a new entry in her contacts directory. The issue is that she did delete the text so that the "old" Max would not be confused by this text she wouldn't remember having sent. Which would be utterly useless if the old Max ended up discovering a new contact named David in her directory instead. Max's Windbreaker After being freed by David from the dark room, Max is seen wearing a windbreaker when she comes up the stairs. There is no proper explanation regarding its origin. *Jefferson's windbreaker is obviously bigger and different (you can see him wearing it in one picture after Max tore her winning picture in half) *Max's windbreaker is nowhere to be seen in the darkroom *It seems unlikely David would think of bringing a girl windbreaker with him *The windbreaker perfectly fits Max. The only possible explanations would be the following: *Jefferson brought Rachel/another victim several times in the darkroom and she left her windbreaker once that she obviously never got back (remember that Rachel's clothes fit Max perfectly). Maybe there's a coat rack near the door that the developers forgot to put. *Max could have had the windbreaker in her satchel all along. A lot of models can actually fold up into a little pouch, easy to carry around. However, it wouldn't explain why Max didn't use it when she had her first vision before she was soaking wet. Frank's Tattoo Though Frank never had a scar tattoo on his throat throughout the series, he clearly has one in the ending of episode 1 and the Sacrifice Chloe ending while watching Chloe's funeral. Although it is possible he could have applied and removed a removable tattoo sticker, there's also a photo of Frank and Rachel Max can find in his RV in Episode 3, which clearly shows him with that tattoo again. This is very contradicting, but probably a design mistake. Neonvault In the first episode, the photo editing software in Jefferson's class has a name NEONVAU. However, in all subsequent appearances, e.g in the Dark Room or during Max's nightmare, it is changed to NEONVAULT. artclass-neonvau.png|Episode 1 (Photography Lab) neonvault-darkroom.png|Episode 4 (Dark Room) NEONVAULT Computer Max Nightmare.png|Episode 5 (Max's nightmare) Bacon Omelette turning into a Belgian Waffle When Max confronts her doppelganger during the nightmare sequence, the latter is seen eating either a Bacon Omelette or a Belgian Waffle (depending on what the player chose during Episode 2). However, when she spots Chloe entering the diner, the dish — whichever it was — will always turn to be a Belgian Waffle. This is because this sequence is a pre-rendered cutscene. But only the cutscene with the Belgian Waffle was included in the game. Wafflevsbacon.png| No Omelette for you, Max. Pictures Flipped over Horizontally While Max is seen looking at pictures of Chloe during the last timestream after sacrificing Chloe in the bathroom, it appears some of the pictures in the album have been flipped over horizontally. Notes References Category:Special Content Category:Special Content (Season 1)